Nord User Forum

Hey all,

so a while back at a gig I played quietly on my Grand and suddenly, one of the keys, C4 just went to maximum velocity (127) and of course it sounded terrible. So I stopped using the board for live gigs altogether. It only happens every once in a while and D4 does the same thing. Sometimes they get stuck in that full velocity mode for as many as four, five, six hits before they go back to normal. Sometimes the explosion comes even delayed, as if it just took the system too long to load the note and then BOOM it comes a second delayed on full velocity.
Now I wonder if anyone else has experienced that problem. I assumed it was a KAWAI problem but only the hammer action is done by KAWAI, all the rest is Nord... The few Nord Grand owners I know personally have not encountered any problems but maybe it's not just a Grand problem??
If I record midi, you can see the 'explosions'. They go up to 127 every time.

The vendor offered to take the keyboard apart and see what's wrong with it but I wonder if it might just be a software issue and not the hardware...
Any idea is much appreciated. Thanks.

Dan

How old is your Grand?

I had a Kawai ES7 in the past that uses a similar action. After several years of (moderate) playing several keys showed the symptom you are describing.
After having contact with the very helpful Kawai support (in my case in Germany) I changed the complete rubber boards and everything was fine again.
I ordered this service kit here: https://www.synth-parts.com/en/products ... 4-2?c=1771

You can clean the contacts if the rubber strips aren’t compromised. Always cover your keyboard when not in use, or keep it in a dust free case. Only open the case when removing or replacing the keyboard, keep it closed always to keep dust out. What you have is dust or some other contamination in the key contact strip. Good luck, cheers.

It's a common problem among all electronic keyboards, I've fixed a few dozens of them already. It occurs when one or more of the 2 or 3 (per key) key contacts don't make contact. Cleaning the key contacts (both the silicone strips and PCBs) with isopropyl alcohol, contact cleaner spray or even vodka always helps if the silicone strips are not physically broken - usually they aren't.